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It's here! Spotify lands in the US (video)
We knew it was coming, but Europe's beloved music service just officially launched stateside, bringing with it 15 million tracks with on-demand access, MP3 import, an offline mode, and social media integration. The streaming music service is currently in an invite-only beta phase, but you can sign up for an invitation or jump the queue right into the service's Unlimited ($5) or Premium ($10) monthly subscription tiers. Groove on over to the source link to sign up, and start piping millions of free tunes directly to your desktop -- once Spotify sends the welcome nod to your inbox, of course. Update: Logitech announced that it will be offering Spotify service on both the Squeezebox Touch and Squeezebox Radio. Hit up the source link for the full scoop. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones tweet highs, woof lows
We've been worried about Klipsch's future since Audiovox joined the picture, but it looks like there isn't reason to fret just yet. Remember the company's first on-ear headphones, the Image One? Well, Klippy's back for round two evidently; its Mode active noise-canceling headphones have quietly popped up on its website with a whopping $350 price tag and a fall 2011 release. The collapsible earcups are padded in plushy leather and house a 40mm mid / low woofer with a 15mm tweeter for silky highs, crunchy mids and thumping lows. Also included are two detachable 3.5mm cables, one of which has an Apple-certified three-button inline remote / mic. Best of all, ANC can be enabled for up to 45 hours on a single battery to zone out any bustle around you. We'll have an ears-on with these very soon, but you'll find details now via the source link below.%Gallery-128214%
Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video)
Aside from with a handful of stateside early adopters (and a few million others in Japan) eager to embrace any new technology, Sony's rather extensive line of MiniDisc Walkmans never had a chance to dominate the portable audio market. But for one reason or another, the company kept up production of the optical player / recorder combos for nearly 20 years, after the first Sony MZ1 launched in Japan in September of '92. With a countless selection of more affordable solid-state alternatives available today, however, it's certainly not shocking to see good ole MD go the way of the laserdisc and the cassette. Now, only one question remains: How long until we see the compact disc suffer a similar fate?
Amazon Cloud Player hits iPad, adds unlimited storage, scoffs at constrained competition
20,000 songs? Not nearly enough. $24.99 a year? Way too spendy. Unlimited and $20 a year? That's a little better, at least, and that's what Amazon just moved to. Taking a step up from its previous $20 for 20GB plan, the former bookseller is now letting new subscribers get any amount of storage they want for that price -- unlimited for .mp3 and .m4a files, anyway. Naturally this means any songs purchased through Amazon MP3 will also be stored for to an infinite extent, not counting against your all-important quota. This is a "limited time" kind of deal, so if you've been on the fence now's the time to click that cart, but there's another new feature that isn't going away: Cloud Player for Web on iPad. This lets you play your cloud tunes through Safari and that, combined with the whole unlimited storage thing, should ease any nagging feelings of regret you've been suffering since budgetary pressures talked you into the 16GB model.
Sony intros G-Series micro HiFi iPhone / iPod systems, blends retro looks with modern features
Sony's got a reputation for pumping out forwardly-designed wares, but its new G-Series micro HiFi systems are a blast from the past -- at a glance, anyway. Both rigs are MP3 and iPhone / iPod-compatible via USB and will be available in two different configurations. To start, the CMT-G1BiP / G1iP feature 60 watts of RMS power with DAB packed into the former for those who find only having AM/FM is passé. Next up, the CMT-G2BNiP / G2NiP add WiFi for getting your stream on from the Web or a PC and can be remote-controlled with a free iOS app. The "HiFi" moniker mixed with iPod connectivity might have audiophiles raising a brow to sound quality, but the brushed metal console and its piano-gloss satellites are lookers none-the-less. A single variant is currently listed on the Sony UK site, although there's not a squeak regarding cost or release dates. For now, we'll refer you to the PR after the break.
Cowon C2 portable media player review
And here you were assuming the tried-and-true PMP was dead. Au contraire. Cowon's not giving up on its dream quite yet, but after the D2 hung around at the company's low-end for the better part of four years, it's an alphabetic step backwards that's taking over as the successor. The diminutive C2 is about as simple as a PMP gets -- design wise, anyway -- but it's actually capable of supporting both music and video on its 2.6-inch resistive touchpanel. And then there's the purported 55 hours of battery life, included microSD card for expansion and the company's world-class audio quality. Still, $135 goes a long (long!) way in the portable music industry these days -- does the C2 pack enough punch to make your short list? Head on past the break to find out. %Gallery-127150%
iPad brand four times stronger than competing tablets
A new Bernstein Research survey suggests Apple will dominate the tablet market in the same way its iPods dominate the MP3 market. According to the survey, 50% of respondents in the US and the UK prefer the iPad over competing tablets. Surprisingly, even tablets from successful smartphone manufacturers can't compete with the iPad. The survey results show the iPad is more popular in the US than tablets from HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and RIM combined. Apple also sets the standard for size with over 50% of respondents choosing the almost 10-inch display of the iPad over the 7-inch size used by Samsung and others. The preference is so strong that Bernstein Research predicts 7-inch tablets, like the BlackBerry PlayBook, are doomed to fail. Bernstein predicts two market scenarios for tablet devices, and in both situations, Apple is at the top and the other manufactures are vying for the leftover scraps.
JVC Kaboom adds a guitar input, dares you to get the band back together
New audio input capabilities are nothing new for JVC, but soon you'll be able to show off your guitar chops alongside whatever bands you choose to idolize -- so long as you're kosher with rocking a boombox atop your left shoulder, of course. The company has announced that the 2011 offering from its Kaboom line will showcase a guitar / microphone input (1/4-inch) with mixing capabilities to allow for gigs to be played from anywhere you darn well please. The RV-NB70 will have all the key ingredients of previous models, including an iPod dock (updated to be both iPod and iPhone compatible), a USB host that enables use of a mass storage device, an audio input and CD / radio playback. True to the original's design, this fellow features much of the same look while promising 40 watts of guitar soloing power. Your next box 'o fury can be had right now for $299.95, and if you're eager for an encore, the full presser (as well as a demo vid) is just past the break.
Windows Phone 7-style music player for Android arrives from the developer of LauncherPro
Any Android fans that envied Windows Phone 7's Metro UI style can have it for their media player (the WP7 launcher has been emulated before, try Launcher 7 in the Market), thanks to this app released by the developer of the popular LauncherPro homescreen replacement. As seen in the video above next to a real WP7 device, the look and functionality of the Zune player is present in a remarkably full featured interface despite its early alpha status, complete with features like scrobbling and playlists. The only thing it's really lacking so far is a name, and obviously any Zune software integration; while we wait to see if Microsoft has any reaction to this homage you can sideload the APK yourself from the source link. Update: If you want to see the same app running on Honeycomb (and looking amazing) check out a screenshot after the break. [Thanks @Basil_Knows!]
Are The Beatles responsible for music's digital growth in 2011?
Nielsen announced yesterday that music sales in the US are up 1.6 percent in 2011. That might not seem like a lot, but for the embattled music industry, any growth is good news. Interestingly, Nielsen seems to ascribe the growth of music sales to The Beatles' deal with Apple. As Nielsen says in its report, "Catalog album sales are up 5.4 percent in 2011, thanks in part to a long-awaited 2010 deal allowing digital distribution of The Beatles' albums for the first time." The Fab Four's music exclusively went on sale on iTunes in November to much fanfare. I, for one, hate when someone can't admit when they were wrong, so let me say that I myself didn't think The Beatles news was that big of a deal. If Nielsen is right, it looks like I was very wrong. However, Peter Kafka at All Things D does seems to come to my rescue by saying that he has "a hard time believing the 'Love Me Do' bump extended into March and April," six months after The Beatles' debut on iTunes. But with the music industry the way it is, maybe The Beatles did help fuel a turnaround. Other interesting stats from the Nielsen report include a decline in physical album sales year-over-year while digital album and track purchases increased 16.8 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively, and digital retailers, like Apple's iTunes, received more than half of all music transactions.
DoubleTwist's latest trick is NFC-based MP3 sharing between Androids
After adding AirPlay to AppleTV support to its Android media player app over the weekend, DoubleTwist's followup is a page out of Microsoft's Zune squirting (R.I.P.) handbook as it has implemented the ability to share MP3s between two devices. Play the video above to get more details on how DoubleTap works (or just keep an eye on Google's I/O event where it will be on display) but basically you'll need two Android phones with NFC, then tap them together and watch the file sharing magic happen automagically over WiFi or Bluetooth. The new update went live in the Android Market overnight, now all you need to do is find someone else with a Nexus S, Galaxy S II or any of the other NFC-packing Android devices expected to arrive shortly.
Amazon offering top-selling MP3 tracks for $0.69
Amazon has dropped the price of its top-selling MP3 tracks to $0.69, according to The Los Angeles Times. That's a 20-cent drop from its previous $0.89 price. The move by the internet retail giant is seen as an attempt to knock Apple from its perch as the top distributor of music in the world. Currently, Apple's iTunes store has a 70 percent market share, while Amazon is a distant second at 10 percent. The LA Times article also highlights some facts about the effect of price changes to music in the iTunes store since last year. In 2010 Apple raised the prices for most new songs in the iTunes store to $1.29, up from $0.99. However, that price increase slowed music sales growth considerably. In 2009 when the average music track cost $0.99, digital music sales grew 8 percent in one year. After the raise to $1.29 per track, digital music sales only grew a meager 1 percent in 2010. Of course, Apple's not to blame for the price rise; it's the music studios who insisted on a higher per-track average price. It's unclear who is eating the cost of Amazon's price reduction, but an NPD Group analyst questioned whether a $0.69 price for hot songs will actually increase Amazon's market share, or if the price will just create a platform for "opportunistic cherry pickers."
Amazon launches 69-cent MP3 store for chart-toppers
Those with more obscure tastes may not find much to their liking, but we're guessing Amazon's latest move to sway customers from a certain other music store will please plenty of folks. The company's just launched a new $0.69 section on its website, which offers best-selling tracks for (you guessed it) 69 cents apiece. That's down from $0.89 before, which already had iTunes handily beat in terms of pricing -- Apple is still asking $1.29 for many of the same songs. Hit up the source link below to check out the current chart-topping singles available.
iPhone turntable concept brings dropped calls to your record collection
Any audiophile worth their weight in 180 gram vinyl will gladly tell you that nothing sounds quite as good as a record. Unfortunately, the format has a few major drawbacks, like a lack of portability and the fact that it really sucks at making phone calls. The iPhone, on the other hand, is light years ahead of those fronts -- well, one of out two ain't bad. This new concept from designer Olivier Meynard offers the best of both worlds, embedding a horizontal iPhone dock next to a wheel of steel, so you can play back your favorite LP through the built-in speakers and encode those tracks as MP3s, which are uploaded to your handset as it charges. Finally, a way to turn your long out of print prog rock albums into ringtones, as they were meant to be heard.
Philips GoGear Connect gets Gingerbread and some new threads, we go hands-on
It's been a while since we last saw Philip's GoGear Connect PMP, and in the meantime it's acquired a new look and a new flavor of Android. The new GoGear has gone from white to black, lost its trackball in favor of a capacitive touchscreen display, and exchanged the lowly Android 2.1 for Gingerbread. Like its competition from Samsung, the device also has access to the Android Market and all those apps that lesser PMPs lack. After getting some quality time with a prototype of the new device, we found the copper-colored buttons and speaker grill running along its right side to form an intriguing design, but the overall fit and finish -- not to mention the lack of a backlight for the screen -- demonstrated that it wasn't quite ready for primetime. Luckily, there's plenty of time to work out the kinks, as Philips has pegged a September debut for the 8GB and 16GB versions (at $179 and to-be-determined price points, respectively), and promised a 32GB iteration will come later. PR after the break. %Gallery-121655%
uSolo FX Media player review
This is a picture of a digital media player. It doesn't look quite like an iPod, though, does it? No hint of Zune here either, we don't think. In fact, it looks a lot like a CDJ unit, and that's for a reason: it acts just like a physical media-loving digital disc jockey's unit, but without the 5-inch slot at the front. Instead, it's got USB and SD ports up top. If you're a DJ, you might be familiar with the rest: navigate your folders to find a song, cue it up with the jog wheel, and mix it up. DJ Tech, which started operations in the US just last year, has the uSolo FX as its flagship unit -- does it compare to its competition from giants like Pioneer and Numark? Read on to find out! %Gallery-120496%
The Daily Grind: What's your boss fight playlist?
Many of us have admitted that sooner or later, no matter how good an MMO's score is, we turn it off due to sheer repetition and replace it with our own tunes. It's OK, I do it too. And when it comes to boss fights, it sometimes helps to have tunes queued up that are guaranteed to get your blood pumping and your fingers tappin'. Me? I'm all about the epic '80s montage jams when I'm going toe-to-toe with the deadliest virtual villains in games. Give me You're the Best Around, Danger Zone and Love is a Battlefield, please, and pump up that bass. Montages solve everything. So what about you? What do you queue up on your MP3 player when you're heading into the boss' sanctum? For today's bonus points, why not provide a link to the YouTube video version so we can all enjoy your no doubt excellent taste in music? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Amazon Cloud Player upsets Sony Music over streaming license, Amazon shrugs
In case you missed the news, last night Amazon gave us a little surprise by launching its free Cloud Player service, which lets you stream your music collection from the cloud to your computer or Android device. While this has no doubt put a smile on many faces (American ones only, for now), Sony Music isn't too happy about Amazon jumping the gun over licensing for streaming rights. The record label told Reuters that it's hoping Amazon "will reach a new license deal, but we're keeping all of our legal options open." Yikes. In retaliation, Amazon responded with the following statement to Ars Tehcnica: "Cloud Player is an application that lets customers manage and play their own music. It's like any number of existing media management applications. We do not need a license to make Cloud Player available. The functionality of saving MP3s to Cloud Drive is the same as if a customer were to save their music to an external hard drive or even iTunes." Of course, the bigger story here is that Amazon's free Cloud Player is going head-to-head with Sony's Music Unlimited streaming subscription service, which was pushed out last month after plenty of money talk with various record labels. Understandably, Sony isn't willing to let Amazon cut through the red tape here without a fight, and this may also affect similar music locker services like mSpot and MP3Tunes, albeit at a much smaller scale. In fact, Sony's already expressed its discomfort with those particular companies' mode of operation, so you can probably expect to see this tension boiling over to some form of legal action before long. Now that a big shot like Amazon's involved, it's almost inevitable. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Tascam outs new DR-07 Mark II audio recorder, touts adjustable mics
If you're in the market for a quality audio recording device to capture demos somebody other than your mother would listen to, here's your chance to get those songs past her and out into the real world. Tascam, maker of professional music studio equipment, has just announced their newest addition to the recording family, the DR-07. Depending on what you'll be recording, the device allows the user to capture sound in XY or AB configuration using the adjustable dual microphones -- the XY adjustment for a tight stereo recording and AB for ambient, larger noise. The Mark II comes bundled with a 2GB microSD slot, features 17.5 hours of battery life and grabs MP3 audio at up to 320 kbps or WAV audio at up to 96 kHz. If you're interested in picking one of these up, hit up the more coverage link and drop the $150.
BlackBerry Playbook to feature 7digital's 13 milllion track music store (update: PIN seemingly confirmed, too)
7digital and RIM are back in bed with news that the BlackBerry PlayBook will ship pre-installed with access to 13 million high-quality (320kbps) MP3 tracks from the London-based media company. At launch, the deal affects the US and Canada only, with more countries promised in 2011. PlayBook users will be able to search and preview tracks before purchasing with a discovery assist provided by 7digital's music recommendation engine. The whole kit will be previewed this week at South by Southwest where we hope to get some hands-on time. Full press release after the break. Update: RIM's now also announced a new BlackBerry Podcasts app to go along with the music store, and it's provided a video showing off both. Check it out after the break, and hit up the link below for some additional details. Update 2: The eagle-eyed folks over at Crackberry have noticed an entry for a PIN around the 2:37 mark. This certainly seems to jive with the fact that the PlayBook will eventually be getting native BlackBerry services, so the presence of a PIN shouldn't be too surprising -- though hard evidence is always welcome. Screencap after the break.
